The First Step
by Polyglyph
Summary: After leaving the Dark Hand, Tohru wants nothing more than to bury his past and start over. No more crime, no more magic. Just a second chance. Even if it's more than he deserves.
1. Adjustments

A/N: Hi, everyone. This is my first dive into the JCA fandom. As much as I enjoy the show, I have to admit that this story departs from the show's lighthearted nature. Hopefully I've done the characters justice all the same, but I'll let you be the judge. And as always, thank you for reading!

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**The First Step**

**Chapter 1: Adjustments**

Nearly two months had passed since Tohru's retirement from the criminal life. Two months since Shendu was defeated, and two months since Jade Chan remained in Hong Kong with her parents. Things had quieted since then. Demons and magic talismans were no longer part of his life, and for that he was extremely grateful. He was also grateful—actually indebted—to the man who had pulled strings to keep him out of prison, Captain Augustus Black.

Tohru remembered the day he walked into Uncle's Rare Finds and handed himself into custody. He had joked about joining Section Thirteen, the national security agency under Black's command, but that was merely to lighten the mood. Even if his assistance prevented the apocalypse, he himself had helped initiate it. That combined with the numerous crimes he had committed while working for the Dark Hand, even before Valmont found that accursed statue, dismantled any lingering hopes for his own happily-ever-after. But Captain Black took pity on Tohru, and in return for helping him and the Chans, he offered Tohru a favor of his own.

Now, instead of doing time, possibly for life, Tohru was under temporary probation, monitored by Section Thirteen until he was deemed no longer a threat to society. Every day tending the shop and serving tea to Jackie Chan's uncle (who apparently went by "Uncle" no matter whom he was talking to) reminded him how lucky he was and how different things might have been if not for the kindness of his former enemies. Adapting would take time, of course. Whenever Jackie Chan was visiting Uncle's store, usually bringing a newly discovered artifact, he treated Tohru kindly and attempted at small talk, despite his obvious discomfort. Jackie and his Uncle were incredibly forgiving, more so than he even deserved. Tohru hoped a day would come when Chan would not hesitate to call him a friend.

Since beginning his work at Uncle's Rare Finds, Tohru had discovered a simple pleasure in productivity. It was something he was just now beginning to understand, a rewarding feeling that came regardless of money or possessions—something that he never felt while working for Valmont. Having his labor appreciated offered purpose and direction, things he had lost long ago and was now struggling to regain. It was comforting to know that his skills and abilities, mundane though they might be in his current employment, were helping people, not hurting people, and for that reason alone, for the first time in years, Tohru now took pride in his work.

Tohru had been dusting when Jackie walked through the open doorway carrying a golden urn. Today marked Jackie's return from another of his usual archaeological expeditions, this one a week-long trip to Jordan. They greeted one another, Uncle sparing no expense with his banter, and Tohru accepted the urn and placed it on a shelf.

No matter the strengthening relationship between himself and the Chans, there was still something, or rather _someone,_ missing. In the few months of her stay, Jade Chan had obviously managed to worm her way into her relatives' hearts, but without her presence, the shop was almost unbearably quiet. Tohru never knew Jade very well, having only seen her assisting Jackie when- and wherever they fought for the talismans, but even he missed the rambunctious preteen, the girl with seemingly limitless energy and a knack for finding trouble.

Jackie's thoughts as well were clearly on the young girl's absence, and he had begun to say something when Uncle interrupted, pulling a letter from his vest. Apparently, Jade's parents had written to inform Jackie of his niece's progress back home, and to thank them for being such a great influence.

"One more thing," a voice called. "They're so pleased, they want me to hang here for another year!" All eyes looked to the shop door where one Jade Chan stood, her luggage beside her and an exuberant smile on her face. "Jackie!" She ran and tackled her uncle in a hug.

Jackie embraced the young girl, and when Uncle approached, he quickly got pulled into the hug as well. "I've missed you guys so much! Jackie, isn't this great? It'll be just like old times. We'll hang out, go on super cool adventures, fight bad guys, and—Tohru?" she asked in surprise, finally noticing him in the background. "What are you doing here?" Her question came steeped in suspicion and hostility. Even in front of her elders and reinstated guardians, the girl made no effort, conscious or otherwise, to conceal her displeasure at his presence.

"Jade, manners," Jackie scolded. "Tohru is our guest now. He no longer works for The Dark Hand."

Jade took a moment to absorb and process this new information, and once she did, she donned a guilty smile and laughed with embarrassment. "Heh heh, whoops. Sorry, Tohru."

"Welcome back, Jade," he responded with a wave. Jade then turned to Jackie, begging him to take her to Section Thirteen so they could surprise Captain Black. The martial-arts expert relented, and almost as quickly as Jade had arrived, she and her uncle were out the door.

With the reunion over, Tohru promptly returned to work. Uncle asked him to make a fresh batch of tea before organizing the bookshelf, and Tohru complied, his thoughts on the girl who had just returned from Hong Kong. Neither Uncle nor Jackie seemed to notice the charade that was her smile, but Tohru had seen it clearly. He saw it in her when she looked at him. He heard it in the urgency of her voice when asking to leave.

Jade Chan wanted nothing to do with him.

Tohru considered the possibility that he had misinterpreted her behavior that day, but any and all doubts were laid to rest over the next week.

Upon her return, Jade was quickly moved back into her quarters at Section Thirteen. School registration came next and was handled with just as much urgency, lest the creative and trouble-making girl have too much free time on her hands. By the end of the week she was enrolled and attending the same middle school as she'd been before she left. But things were far from back to normal.

Officially, Jade Chan was staying in her own room at the agency's base of operations. On weekday afternoons, however, she rode the school bus to the stop nearest to Uncle's Rare Finds and waited in the shop until Jackie or Captain Black could bring her there. Her departure schedule, always before evening struck and the shop closed, varied only slightly, leaving her there for two and a half hours each day. And despite this, Tohru would see her for only a few, brief instances. If he was dusting shelves and cabinets on the main floor, she would be upstairs. If he were sweeping the balcony, she would be in the kitchen. No matter where he was or what he was doing, she would make sure to place as much distance between him and herself as physically possible.

On the occasions where Uncle asked for Jade's assistance—"Jade, come make Uncle some tea," or "Jade, Uncle needs your eyes to read parchments"—the request garnered no attention if the chore would place her in proximity of Tohru. Sometimes she exempted herself with homework as an excuse, dashing away before Uncle could object, but if he had called her from a different room, she opted to ignore him entirely.

"Jackie! Your niece has become veeery rude," Uncle said one day when Jackie came by to deliver some antiques. It had only been two weeks since Jade's return. "Uncle asks her to help, and she never does. She does not listen to her elders." Which wasn't completely true. Jade did what Uncle asked whenever Tohru was elsewhere in the shop, but that was a minority of the time.

"Believe me," replied Jackie. "Listening is not one of her talents."

Having heard stories about Jade from Jackie and Captain Black, Tohru had learned of Jade's selective hearing. She never listened to Jackie half the time because so often he would tell her to stay out of trouble, to do homework rather than tag along and hunt talismans. But according to them, Jade was normally polite enough to help her caregivers if asked. Apparently, neither Uncle nor Jackie knew why that had changed. Tohru did.

"Uncle does not need excuses. Jade is becoming ill-mannered and rebellious. One more thing. If she does not shape up, Uncle will send her back to parents in Hong Kong."

"I understand, Uncle. I will talk to her."

Unnoticed by the Chans, there was a fleck of movement by the balcony wall when the conversation ended. Two minutes later, Jackie found Jade working on homework in his old training room, and then they were on their way to Section Thirteen. Only Tohru saw the glare she sent his way as they left the shop.


	2. Conflict

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**The First Step**

**Chapter 2: Conflict**

In the days after Uncle's ultimatum, Tohru resolved to speak with the elder Chans about Jade's behavior. He didn't want to, and he stalled as much as he could, waiting for the issue to crop up again instead of taking the initiative. But he couldn't let Jade take the blame. He needed to tell them the truth. Even if it meant facing the consequences.

For better or for worse, that conversation never happened. Jade's behavior gradually changed. By the following week, whether it was Jackie's lecture or the overheard possibility of being sent home, she no longer neglected helping Uncle just to avoid Tohru. No matter what the task, she did it with the utmost diligence, a smile painted on her face and polite words directed towards the antique seller. She crossed paths with Tohru much more frequently, but she never said a word to him, not even in front of Uncle.

He assumed that Jackie and Uncle chalked her former insolence up to a bad week, since they never discussed it again. But Tohru knew her mood was only getting worse. After several days, Jade no longer settled for a furtive glare. Instead, she abandoned discretion and caught his eyes for many seconds at a time, staring at him with more ire and distrust than any child should feel towards someone. She still kept her distance, too. He tried to hold on to the hope that Jade would warm up to him, even despite all of this, but one final sign dashed that hope to pieces.

It was the Friday of the fourth full week since her return. Tohru came into the kitchen to empty the drying rack and found Jade preparing tea for Uncle. While Jade waited for the water to boil, she kept herself as far away as she could.

"Hello, Jade." She said nothing. "How was school?" She gave him not the barest hint of acknowledgment. She wasn't even looking at him this time. Realizing that she would likely ignore any attempt at conversation, he returned his attention to organizing and putting away the dishes. A whistle arose from the kettle and was followed by the clang of a tea cup placed on a tray. From the corner of his eyes, Tohru watched as Jade quickly poured the tea, nearly spilling it in the process. It was only when she lifted the tray and made to leave that he noticed.

Clenched in her palm, almost hidden underneath the tray, was a knife. Not a kitchen knife pulled from a nearby drawer, but a pocket knife she'd taken from who-knows-where. What little he could see of the surface was black and matted, but its shape curved in such a way to hint at the silver edge within, ready to be flipped outwards in a moment's notice.

That was when he finally admitted to himself that the situation had gotten out of hand. He needed to fix this.

Jade spent the entire weekend at Section Thirteen with Jackie, so Tohru didn't see her again until Monday. When he did, he noticed that she still carried the weapon, never failing to hide it from her guardians when they were around. Presumably trying to hide it from him as well. To the young girl, the blade must have been defiance and safeguard all in one.

When Uncle was conducting research, Tohru found Jade sweeping the foyer. "Jade, can we talk?"

Her reaction was immediate and dismissive. "There's nothing to talk about, Tohru. Leave me alone." She placed the broom and dustpan against the nearest wall and marched to the stairs.

If he wanted her to listen, he knew he would have to admit his mistakes upfront. "I'm sorry."

She kept walking, passing him with a wide berth. "No you're not."

"I am," he said, turning as she neared the staircase. "Jade—"

He didn't realize that he'd stepped forward until Jade spun to face him and backed away. "Get away from me!" Not watching where she was going, she bumped into an antique on display—a ceramic pot from the Tang Dynasty—accidentally sending it toppling to the floor where it shattered into pieces. She looked behind her, then back at Tohru, panicked. Then she ran and climbed the stairs without looking back. The drum of Uncle's footsteps preceded his arrival at the scene, but by then Jade had disappeared into one of the upstairs rooms.

"Aiyaaah! My vase of the Li nobles!"

His first attempt had been a disaster. Tohru lied and took full responsibility for the broken antique, and Uncle sighed and let him off with a warning to be more careful. But for Jade, an apology on its own just wasn't going to work.

It took a few days, but soon he thought of another way to reach out to her. Acting upon it required approval, however, so Tohru confided fully in Captain Black, letting him know the problem and his proposal. Through Captain Black as his intermediary, he received permission from Jackie as well.

And so, that Saturday, Tohru found himself standing outside the gates of Melvin World. He'd arrived early and waited around twenty minutes in the heat, but eventually the navy blue van he awaited pulled into the parking lot, right on schedule. After the van parked, two people exited the vehicle and made for the entrance, the smaller one wearing a blindfold.

"I already know where we're going, Captain Black. You did the same thing back when we found the sheep talisman and Shendu possessed my body. Besides, I can hear the roller coasters from here."

The captain chuckled. "Well, forgive me for playing up the anticipation." They stopped just yards away from the ticket booth and turnstiles. "All right, Jade. Go ahead."

She eagerly did as instructed. Grabbing the black cloth, she shouted, "Hello, Melvin—" and promptly stopped. With the blindfold pulled away, her eyes landed on Tohru. Her ecstatic grin turned one-eighty in no time at all. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Now, Jade," said Captain Black, "Tohru's going to be your chaperon."

"You said you were taking me to have fun today. You didn't say anything about him."

"I know what I said, but—"

"This was all his idea, wasn't it?" Captain Black apparently didn't know how to answer that, and Tohru could see the girl's anger mounting. She was probably moments away from yelling at both of them. "Well you can forget it," she said, turning and starting towards the van. "I'm not going anywhere with him."

Jade didn't get far. Captain Black quickly followed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Jade, listen." His words were soft, but Tohru could still hear them from where he stood. The agent's tone was apologetic, as if realizing that this might have been a mistake.

True to form, Jade wasn't keen on listening. "I can't believe you're taking his side! Am I the only one who remembers that Tohru worked for the Dark Hand?!" Tohru could hear the feeling of betrayal in her voice. Captain Black, one of the few people Jade Chan could trust, had lied to her. All because of him.

At this point, Black knelt down to her level and lowered his voice. Tohru couldn't hear what he was saying, but her expression showed stubborn displeasure and only changed near the end of their private talk. The young girl averted her eyes, something akin to guilt emerging, then receding seconds later. The captain turned and started again towards Tohru. Jade just looked at the ground and followed.

"All right, Tohru," he began as they reached the sidewalk. "You guys are all set." He reached in his pocket and produced four stubs, split them in half, and offered them to him and Jade. "Two admission tickets and two express passes onto all of the rides. You have my card for food, drinks, souvenirs, and anything else you might need. I'll be back to pick you both up at five."

"Thank you," Tohru said.

As he made to leave, the man put his hand on Jade's shoulder. "Have fun." Jade responded with a resigned nod, and the captain walked off. She then turned, crossed her arms, and glared at her chaperon. And so they were left alone, standing at the entrance to Melvin World.


End file.
